Tuesday, January 20, 2009

I Begin

The money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere economic profit.

Oratorical animal notes the many allusions of renewal in Obama's inaugural and the following passage expresses a renewed economic emphasis on equal opportunity and regulation:

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control -- and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity: on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart -- not our of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

Alas, it gives much away with its claim that markets expand freedom without qualification and the call to "extend opportunity to every willing heart" provides rhetorical cover to exclude those not reached because they failed to embrace the new responsibility called for today by President Obama. Alas, this passage suggests a renewal of the cultural wing of neo-liberalism. In contrast, as a watchful eye, money/speech joins the President's call for a renewal of our better history; one that might begin with the Glass-Stegall Act.